Defeat the Empire

Everything the Mets did in yesterday's loss to San Francisco just came up a tad short.

Tom Glavine missed vesting his 2006 option by .1 inning.

The Mets left the tying run in scoring position in both the 7th and 9th innings.

And so on. I know we can't win 'em all, but it seems like we have to in order to prevail in the Wild Card chase. The good news is, every team we're chasing lost yesterday, except for Florida. Even Houston and Roy Oswalt were blown out by the Dodgers.

Today's game is huge. A win today virtually insures that abotu 150,000 people show up to Shea for the upcoming 3-game series against Philadelphia (and I might be one of them). A loss puts a damper on an otherwise brilliant road trip.

Kris Benson, battling shoulder soreness, goes for the Mets. The Mets are 14-7 in Benson's starts so far this year. Opposing him is the young and promising Noah Lowry, who the Mets beat at Shea Stadium earlier this year, but he has since come on strong and been the Giants no. 2 starter.

Today's Schedule

Royals (Grienke, 3-15, 6.04) @ Yankees (Leiter, 6-10, 5.96)

How the hell did the Yankees lose last night's game? That was truly depressing. A loss doesn't seem very likely for the Empire today, either, as Zach Grienke opposes them on his quest to lose 20 games.

Detroit (Robertson, 6-10, 3.85) @ Red Sox (Wells, 10-6, 4.53)

David Wells may be the ace of the Red Sox staff down the stretch. That is a scary thought, but it's probably true. Bronson Arroyo was the last Sox pitcher to get bombed, allowing 7 runs in a loss last night.

Mets (Benson, 9-5, 3.89) @ Giants (Lowry, 10-11, 3.81)

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